[ BUSINESS BRIEFS ]

Led by gains in the financial sector, the TAIEX rose to its highest level in nearly a year yesterday before finishing a quarter of a percent higher.

The weighted index opened at 8,021.88 and closed up 23.58 points, or 0.29 percent, at 8,038.72, after moving between 8,089.21 and 8,001.85. Turnover was NT$94.03 billion (US$3.17 billion).

The index had not been as high since it hit 8,123.15 on March 19 last year. Overall, 2,377 stocks closed up, 2,540 finished down and 435 remained unchanged.

Financial stocks led the rally, with the financial sub-index closing 0.7 percent higher, as investors remained optimistic about growing cross-Taiwan Strait financial exchanges.

HTC shares close down

Shares of smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) fell 2.7 percent to close at NT$252.5 on news that its former vice president, Lotus Chen (陳學群), moved to Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) last month to become one of its top technology executives.

Chen, one of the engineers who helped develop the HTC Sense interface, left HTC late last year, the Chinese-language Commercial Times said in a front-page report yesterday.

The report said Chen is expected to help beef up Asustek’s research and development capability in communications technology and software, as the company is determined to make inroads into the smartphone market this year after having launched the PadFone, which combined tablet and handset technologies, to test market response.

Merril Lynch, TSE host meet

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Taiwan Stock Exchange are hosting an annual conference in Taipei this week to give investors in the Asia-Pacific region information on the market outlook and a chance to meet with representatives of major technology companies.

The “Taiwan, Technology and Beyond Conference,” which opens today and will continue through Thursday at the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei, is to be attended by more than 300 investors and representatives of 152 companies, according to Merrill Lynch.

FTC receives buyout documents

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday said it had received documents concerning the buyout of Next Media Group (壹傳媒集團) from the interested investors.

The commission will decide when to begin the review process of the deal after examining these documents. The commission has 60 days to review the case. However, under the buyout terms, investors can cancel the deal if the transaction cannot be completed by March 27.

Next Media said in December last year that it would sell its print assets for NT$16 billion to buyers including Want Want Times Group (旺旺中時集團) president Tsai Shao-chung (蔡紹中).

Cancer drug put on fast track in China

Taiwan Liposome Co (TLC, 台微體) yesterday said that its Lipotecan, a drug used to cure liver cancer, had received approval from China for the drug to be put onto a “green path,” a fast track for trials, because of the lack of drugs to treat liver cancer.

There are 370,000 patients in China suffering from liver cancer, but there is only one drug — Nexavar — on the market which costs approximately US$5,000 a month for each patient, the company said.

NT dollar retreats

The New Taiwan dollar closed lower against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.022 to close at NT$29.740.

Turnover totaled US$537 million during the trading session.

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